Boiler videos!

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

I found, by random chance, videos of some French boilers on Dailymotion. I rarely see video of boilers in action, so for those who are curious...

First is a relatively common model with a sort of stretched vertical column. Bubbles shoot up in clusters. These don't usually start this fast, this one has likely been pre-warmed before the video.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x11xe1h_lampe-a-ebullition_creation

Next is one of the amazing fountains created by S. Vera of Cleremont-Ferrand. This design has been seen in several variations; it sends liquid squirting from the mouth of a glass deer, and has a return pipe to the reservoir. There's also a version of these which has a glass automobile squirting exhaust.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x17kt16_241113-video-lampe_creation

Here's a close-up of the action. Amazing, no?

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x17kwlc_241113-video-lampe-1_creation

~ Jonas

[VOXul]

I very much now need a vomiting deer boiler lamp... Anyone here a glassblower?  Nice find Jonas!

[Carol]

Wanna hear something that sucks??  My father-in-law is a retired glassblower.  When he was in his old house his "laboratory" was in his basement and he asked me if I wanted him to make me something.  Well, my husband kind of insisted so I could watch.  It was so cool!!!  He made me this red swan.  Of course I broke it years later.  Well, he moved and now even if he wanted to do something his tools are gone. 

 

Now answer me this if you can??  Do they even have lava in France??  or is this their kind of "lava"?  Like we have our lava's and they have their boilers?  Is it like that?  Are these "vintage" rare or are they still being made and if so, can you purchase one say if you went there? 

 

That was really interesting.  I like the design of the actual lamps, but I think lava is WAY cooler and more interesting then boiling water......just my opinion.....not to offend anyone that is a boiler fan.  lol!

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

Carol, there are several kinds of "boilers." Most contain a volatile liquid with a low evaporation point, and work as pictured: when heated, the liquid turns to vapor, and the vapor pressure above the liquid forces it up the central pipe. When it gets low enough, vapor enters and creates bubbles. Some models bubble constantly, some intermittently, and some "cycle" by slowly filling up, bubbling, draining again and repeat. The columns have been formed into all manner of coils, zig-zags, bubbles, stretched and tapered tubes and even donuts to add to the visual effect.

What have been termed "bubblers" don't have the pipe extending into the lower chamber. Instead, when the liquid gets warm enough around the chamber containing the light bulb, bubbles of vapor form, then rise to the top. Some bubblers have gravel or glass beads around the bulb chamber to aid in bubble production. Some are cylindrical, while others have interesting blown shapes.

"Lava bubblers" add a thick, colored oil in the bottom, under the thinner liquid above. Vapor bubbles carry a coating of oil, which floats back down when the bubbles hit the top. Most of these are cylindrical in basic shape; some also have dents in the glass to bounce the rising bubbles around, while others have beads sitting in the oil, which both aid in bubble production and break up the bubbles.

"Fountains" use the rising vapor, which pushes liquid up the central pipe, for a fountain effect; the pipe extends into the upper chamber and has a 'sprinkler' on top, out of which liquid squirts. In some of these, holes near the bottom allow liquid to rejoin the pool in the bottom. In others where the upper and lower sections are separated by a decorative tube or pipe, there must be a return pipe from the upper part leading back to the base, such as with the deer fountain in the video. Another design uses pressure building up in the fountain chamber to send liquid up to a second fountain, and then back to the base via return pipe.

Other designs include "glitter boilers," which encase a boiler inside a glitter lamp, and "lava fountains," which operate the same as a fountain but add colored oil, which squirts up into the clear liquid. Some of these companies also made ordinary glitter lamps. There were some hand-held boilers made, too, in which the warmth of your hand creates the effect. The features shared by all boilers is that the liquid-filled chamber is literally sealed at the top. Many lamps were made entirely of glass including the pedestal, all blown into one piece, with a light socket slipped inside and in some cases foil bands or frosting inside the bulb chamber to conceal the bulb. A few sat in metal or other bases with an integrated socket, like a lava lamp, but again, their glass portions were completely sealed.

Lava lamps were known and produced in France in the 1970s, but these lamps developed, too. It seems a few were made in the UK and possibly elsewhere in Europe, but most of the production seems to have been French. Makers' names and company names have turned up, but nothing is known about them save that certain companies produced certain things; for example, "S. Vera" of Cleremont-Ferrand produced mostly ornate fountains, "F. Vaudan" of Paris produced mostly lava-bubblers and hand boilers, and "Creations M.U.C." of Paris produced mostly glitter-boilers and glitter lamps. Scientific/laboratory style glassworking techniques were used. Nobody seems to know when these started or how, when they stopped or why, or any other details. We do know, however, that they were sold in stores in the UK in the 70s.

Some lamps sold under the "Geyser Lamp" name were made that (poorly) replicated glitter boilers. These were around for a short time several years ago, and are quite scarce now as they were very fragile. No other such lamps are known to be produced now, anywhere. I'm also unclear on what is inside them, liquid-wise-- the hand-held versions made in China in the 80s and 90s contained ethyl alcohol or methylene chloride.

I illustrated the first six boilers I ever saw in 2000. I began adding new designs I saw, and eventually created a sort of visual guide to boiler designs. A variance in color or a slight change in shape is enough to cause a model to be added to the list. I've also illustrated several manufacturers' stickers and those reading "fait main" (hand made). I have posted several versions, and here's the current one, posted just now and updated with, among others, the blue deer fountain pictured-- while some, like the deer fountains, are very similar, the variances are distinct, and I've made every effort to put them down with all the detail of the real ones.

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/photo/french-boilers-latest-update

[Carol]

Wow Jonas, that's really incredible how no one knows what happened and there is no "fill in the blanks" as to why they stopped making them.  Thanks for the history.  That's so interesting.  I love learning about "things that aren't there anymore".  I didn't look at your link yet, but I think the boiler style with the oil would be more lava-like then just the vapor.  More interesting to watch.  Also, if they were still manufactured, I would imagine the craftsmanship put into these things would cause them to command a pretty high $$$.   Blown glass is very fragile.  My father-in-law is a retired glass blower and he made me a blown swan which it simply fell over and that was it.  Broken!!!

[Carol]

I love this pink one!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WYL_5NHjeU

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

You asked if France had lava? There's one! LUC Vallauris made ceramics, and they produced several ceramic-cased glitter and lava lamps. Other ceramic-cased French lava and glitter were made by Sofranex, Longwy, and Luidon Kostka.

[Carol]

So that is a French lava!!!  I was going to ask, but didn't want to sound stupid, lol!!  I'm really digging the fushia boiler next to it too......